By IANS
Jagatsinghpur : Hundreds of supporters of Posco-India slept on a road to prevent social activist Medha Patkar from entering a village in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district where the company is building a mega steel plant.
“The residents of Badgabpur village slept on the road when Patkar was going to Nuagaon, one of the villages to be affected by Posco plant,” Anil Mishra, in-charge of local Kujang police station told IANS.
Agitators also showed placards, which read ” Medha go back, we want Posco project. We want our development, so Medha go back.”
This led to heated exchange of words between villagers and activists of Nab Nirman Samiti (NNS) and Rastriya Yuba Sangthan (RYS) two of three organisations spearheading the agitations against the project in the region.
After police intervened, Medha along with her supporters was able to visit Nuagaon village.
The Orissa government signed a deal with South Korean Posco in June 2005 for a $12 billion plant to be set up in the district of Jagatsinghpur near Port town of Paradeep by 2016.
The deal is one of the largest foreign direct investments in India.
The area has in the past witnessed a series of clashes between pro- and anti-Posco supporters.
At least 17 people, including five women, were injured in a clash in Balitutha, some 120 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, 29 November.
The state government has deployed more than 600 policemen in the region since than.
Those opposed the project say the plant will bring pollution, displace them and ruin their betel farming. On the other hand, people supporting the project say it will bring economic activities in the region and generate employment.